It is sad when we see someone corrupted by vice.  Whether it be alcohol, drugs, pornography, or gambling, addiction is a terrible thing.  When we see otherwise able-bodied individuals in its grip, addiction is both frustrating and incredibly, powerfully heartbreaking.  When our elderly are involved, it is even moreso.

Bangor's Hollywood Slots, with its recently expanded casino, has been publishing advertisements for over a year now promoting the occasional slot machine parlor 'winner.'  These ads are probably successful in promoting their particular vice of gambling.  The casino admitted to $5,600,000 being bet in sixteen hours on July 1st of this year, and $2,000,000 on average being bet daily since.

Yet, the newspaper ad they published recently depicting the elderly Kenneth (no last name given in the ad) told a different story.  For a high-resolution copy of the ad, visit www.cclmaine.org/PDF_Files/HollywoodSlotsKenneth2008.pdf.

Kenneth, a "big win[ner]," is pictured receiving a paltry-by-comparison sum back from his gambling.  He is holding what can only be described as a toy trophy, no bigger than his hand.

Kenneth could be our grandfather, or perhaps our great-grandfather.  He is frail and aged, probably in his 70s, or even his 80s.  He looks neither excited nor happy, but rather quite the opposite.  Kenneth looks trapped in this vice of gambling.  Although it is impossible for us to know, he may well be among the many thousands of Mainers addicted to gambling.

Yet the promotional department of Hollywood Slots cannot be bothered with who Kenneth is, what he looks like, or how much of "big win" he actually comprehends.  They need him only to serve their purposes: to have another ad in the paper promoting their vice.  He is to them it seems only a face and first name to confirm that someone, somewhere occasionally wins something at their casino.  That it may well be a gambling addicted octogenarian with diminished capacity is of no consequence.

The casino acknowledges only tacitly that people with "gambling problem(s)" even exist.  At the end of their ad, in the fine print, they give a toll-free number for those addicted to the very vice they peddle.  It smacks of the tobacco companies that tell us to quit smoking or the alcohol ads that state 'drink responsibly.'  It adds insult to the injury, and probably intentionally so.

Yes, Kenneth is a $2,000 gambling 'winner.'  But is he truly richer for his experience at the casino?  What we do not know is how much Kenneth has gambled and lost prior to and since his "big win."  What we do know is that a society that allows its eldest, and often most vulnerable, citizens to be preyed upon by slot machine parlors is a truly sick society.  

And we know that the casino always wins, no matter how many Kenneths they trot out to try to claim otherwise.    

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